The Saintess Hates the Grand Duke (1)

"Robert."

After Theresia died, I had tried to live on as though nothing had happened. In truth, nothing much was going to change. She had been a bond that only I remembered, a matter that only I knew. If I suddenly changed, that would only look stranger on my end.

It was complicated, that much was true. It was also true that I had tried to pull myself free of such thoughts. I had learned time and again that letting things like this sway me never ended well.

Theresia had simply died. Just that—a woman I had once loved was dead. A person who could mean nothing to me anymore was dead.

...By my own hand.

"Robert?"

She must have called my name several times over; when I finally lifted my head, Adrian was gazing straight at me. This had been happening often lately—me drifting off into a daze on my own, only for Adrian to catch me at it. It wasn't a side of myself I particularly wanted to show her when the two of us were alone, but the heart rarely flows the way one wishes it to.

"My apologies. I was lost in thought for a moment."

"We move out from here tomorrow, remember? Do you recall what I said I wanted to do for you last time?"

"You mean implanting your divine power in me."

Implanting divine power was no light matter. We were close enough to call each other friends, but for divine power to take root in a person's body meant becoming bound to the one who granted it. And if a true spiritual communion were achieved, what would happen then?

I had been pondering this ever since Theresia began recalling memories of my previous loops—this cycle, too, was far from ordinary. It didn't trouble me that someone might know of my memories. I only wondered how they would come to regard me because of them. I had no wish to be pitied, nor any desire to be looked upon with contempt.

That wasn't to say there was nothing in it for me. Receiving divine power would let me wield my mana in entirely different ways, or increase my total capacity outright... Honestly, it was an offer I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠found hard to refuse.

"I'll need to think it over carefully. Couldn't we do it on the way back?"

Better to put it off, then. When I answered with a small smile, Adrian nodded as though she had little choice in the matter.

We had already been staying at the Temple of the Moon for a week. With our base soon to shift and carry us deep into the South, days of leisure like today would be few and far between.

"That's true. We'll be stopping by the temple on our way back anyway."

"Then we should be on our way soon. Shouldn't we go to Sir Berod?"

"...Ah, is it that late already?"

The deeper we ventured, the greater the danger Adrian would be exposed to. Of course, we had the paladins who had arrived as reinforcements, Berod, and myself—but protecting Adrian was this company's foremost purpose, was it not? No amount of vigilance could ever be too much.

When I extended my hand, Adrian sensed the movement and carefully took it. This much contact seemed to be all right with her now. In the beginning, the mere brush of my fingers had been enough to turn her face crimson, which in many ways made me the more embarrassed of the two. Still, when we walked, she preferred to take my arm rather than hold my hand.

The paladins' stares had softened compared to before; these days it was only the priests' odd looks that we occasionally caught as they watched us pass.

"I feel my spirits have lifted so much while staying here. My body feels lighter as well."

"Of course you'd be affected. This is the Temple of the Moon, after all."

If asked whether such an influence didn't touch me as well, I could answer with a firm no. I didn't know what relationship the Moonstone had with this temple. I couldn't be certain the power of a mere relic would linger after its use, yet I had unmistakably felt something in this place. I believed that was why Theresia had recovered her memories.

And if this power knew no bounds of distance, might it not have worked some change in Adele as well?

The thought of her, surfacing unbidden, made me wonder how she was faring. Whether she was well, and what reaction she'd have after reading my letter. Knowing her temperament, she would demand an answer from me at once—but whether she would actually come all the way to the South, I still couldn't guess. The new year had only just passed, and all manner of administrative matters must have piled up. Would she truly cross from the North, through the heart of the Central region, all the way down here?

Still, I found myself rather hoping she would. There were things I needed to confirm, and seeing Adele would put my own heart at ease a little. And while she was away from her territory, she would have no business at the imperial court, would she? I had, in fact, been thinking it would be better if she came.

How long had we walked? After a long stretch at Adrian's side, we found ourselves before the meeting room where the high priest and Berod awaited. Since I had no business inside, I was moving to see Adrian off when the door burst open and Berod appeared.

"I sensed your presence and came out. So the two of you were together, after all."

"I'll take my leave now, then. Well—"

"No. I believe it would be best if you heard today's discussion with us. It concerns the depths of the South, and above all... it concerns you."

His manner was markedly different from before, but his intent—that I was to join this meeting—came through unmistakably. What on earth did they intend to discuss?

Puzzled, I stepped inside, and at once I felt every gaze in the room settle on me. If I realized one thing in that instant, it was that today's subject was not the South, but me.

"...Has some problem arisen?"

At my question, offered into that grave atmosphere, one of the priests sighed and shook his head. From their faint hesitation, it seemed I had done nothing wrong. They were simply in an awkward position, nothing more. But what was with this stifling air? The one who resolved that question was Berod.

"I hear you are acquainted with the Grand Duke who keeps the North."

"That is true."

I tilted my head briefly at the words Grand Duke, then answered quietly once I realized he meant Adele. Why was she suddenly being brought up? But that question soon began to shift in my mind into a suspicion of surely not—and merged with Berod's next words, it was hardening into certainty.

"Might you be on intimate terms with her, perhaps? Friends, say, as you are with the Saintess?"

"Calling us friends... would be a stretch, but I wouldn't say we are distant."

"Not close. That is how it sounds, at any rate. In that case, you will need to explain this letter."

I regarded in silence the letter Berod held out. The hand was scrawled and careless, but I recognized it as Adele's before long. Writing in such a slapdash way was one of her habits. And when I confirmed what was written within, a hollow laugh slipped from my lips.

The Grand Duke's seal was stamped neatly at the bottom. At the sight of it, a sigh escaped me unbidden, and I slowly dragged a dry hand down my face. I didn't dislike her bluntness. If anything, it was because I liked that side of her that we had grown close. But it was equally true that her temperament had a way of putting me in impossible spots.

Berod, still standing close at Adrian's side, had eyes that grew sharper by the second, until the mana he exuded turned cold enough to freeze the air solid. Naturally so. A letter sent in such terms was more than enough to invite misunderstanding. With no idea how on earth I was to explain it, I gave a wry smile toward Adrian, who was burning with curiosity over the letter's contents.

"Robert is not a possession."

Having heard the letter read aloud, Adrian muttered those words, plainly angry. Hearing her say it, one might well think so at first. She hadn't written it with the intent to treat me like an object, but to any other ear, it read as though she considered me something of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remarkably little worth.

Uncharacteristically bristling, Adrian tightened her grip on my arm and turned to Berod.

"What time did you say the Grand Duke would arrive?"

"She was expected by nightfall, so I believe she will join us before we depart."

"...What does she even think of Robert? I thought the two of you shared the same circumstances before, but it seems I was wrong."

I didn't know what she meant by "the same circumstances," but her opinion of Adele had clearly soured. Not that she had ever been fond of her to begin with. She had always been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strangely ill at ease around Adele, and for that very reason, I too had misgivings about Adele and Adrian ever meeting.

In truth, their personalities were near-perfect opposites. Where Adele was rough-hewn and cold, Adrian was gentle and idealistic. If two such incompatible women met—and with me caught between them—well, I doubted the sight would be a pleasant one.

"She said she's coming to meet Robert, so Robert should go out to receive her, shouldn't he?"

"Still, she is coming to see me. Oughtn't I go out to meet her? It would be a breach of courtesy otherwise."

This was no ordinary visitor—it was the Grand Duke. However much the Church concerned itself with faith above rank, they could hardly slight a woman bearing the title of Grand Duke. And since Adele did not yield to Berod even in martial prowess, having her with them would be an incomparable reassurance for the Church.

What troubled them, rather, was Adele's usual manner. She was a woman so free-spirited that even the imperial court had never properly reined her in—what hope did the Church have? On this point, I needed to speak with certainty.

"When the Grand Duke arrives, simply behave as you always would. As the letter says, she has most likely come out of interest in me, and nothing more."

"...That is precisely what is not certain, and that is the problem. It would be some comfort if the Saintess were present, at least."

They still looked uneasy, but the fact that the Saintess was here seemed to grant them a measure of solace. Even Adele would show due deference to the Saintess. Weighing the odds of her acting out under such circumstances, they were surely very low. When Adele moved that way, she always had her own reasons for doing so. And if it came to it, I could simply speak to her myself.

I had done so before—whenever Adele seemed on the verge of causing trouble, I was the one who stepped in to stop her. I was well accustomed to it, so even with her joining us, no sudden incident should arise.

Once I had made my position sufficiently clear to the priests and paladins, the hour had crept toward the night when Adele was due to arrive. She had said she was coming to meet me, so it was time to go out and receive her. As I made to leave, Adrian caught my arm once more and asked whether it wouldn't be better for her to come along.

"It's better if I go with you. That's the only way I'll feel at ease."

"It's not as though she would do me any harm. Will you be all right with that?"

"I'm coming. Considering that she thinks of Robert as a thing to be kept behind, I had better have a word with her myself."

I doubted anything would change just because Adrian spoke, but it seemed better than going alone, so I accepted readily. Berod's gaze was anything but pleased, but I paid it no mind. My heart was simply fluttering a little at the thought that Adele would soon be here. If she was willing to come this far in person, it meant she had resolved to tell me what she had thought upon reading the letter I left her. And if not that—then perhaps she had recalled memories of a previous cycle.

Adrian and I left the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠meeting room together and walked along the only path that led toward the Temple of the Moon. The way she clung tightly to my arm was a touch embarrassing, but it was her own way of looking after me, so I said nothing of it. Yet the longer we walked, the clearer the presence in the distance grew.

The sound of a wolf's paws striking the earth. The ragged breathing of a woman riding hard, reins clenched in her hand. They reached my ears more vividly than they ever had before.

"It seems we'll be meeting her soon."

"I-is that so?"

The time it would take to close that distance was but an instant. At my words, Adrian wrapped herself around my arm with a look of grim resolve. She pressed close—closer than walking required—and when the sound swelled loud enough for even ordinary ears to catch, we brought our steps to a halt.

And so we faced the darkness. A white wolf tore through it, and atop the wolf, a woman gripping the reins. Her ice-blue eyes, paler than moonlight, were as unchanged as ever—and the moment our gazes met, a smile broke from me unbidden. It seemed the same held true for Adele. She looked at me and smiled, quiet and soft.

"It's been a while, Robert."

Her voice, unlike before, was simply gentle. It was plain that something in her had changed. For the better, most likely.